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A leading surgeon punched a fellow doctor during a night out at a restaurant after he became enraged at an alcohol-fuelled discussion mocking the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg, a tribunal heard.

Dr David Wilkinson MBE hit Dr Lawrence King around the head and knocked off his spectacles as they and other medical colleagues were engaged in a "vigorous debate" over the political editor's "lopsided smile", it was said.

Members of the group, who were on a holiday in Spain, had been drinking for up to eight hours and were said to have been arguing at the bar as to whether Ms Kuenssberg was "attractive" enough to work for the BBC due to her "asymmetrical face", with Dr King allegedly suggesting she would look better "with a bag over her head".

As the debate intensified at the Peso Neto fusion restaurant in the Spanish port city of Bilbao, Dr Wilkinson, a 58-year old postgraduate dean for Health Education England in Yorkshire walked up to Dr King and hit him up to three times, the hearing was told.

Dr King, in his 50s, suffered a gash behind his left ear following the 7.30pm incident on June 24 last year. His glasses were also broken.

Someone said she was quite pretty... Lawrence said she would look better with a bag over her headwitness Dr Michael Scarland

At a medical tribunal in Manchester in which Ms Kuenssberg was referred to as "LK", Dr King said: "I remember looking at him and he looked angry, but I am not sure why that anger was directed at me.

"I didn't think we were giving him a lot of stick and that was not my perception of it. I thought he said his daughter wanted to be or was a journalist, like LK but I do not accept that we were giving him a lot of stick, we were just a group at the bar having banter.

"I just thought we were engaging in good natured conversation."

The Medical Practitioners Tribunal Service in Manchester was told the two doctors had joined medical colleagues for the trip and had been drinking since 11am before ending up at the restaurant in the evening.

Dr King added: "We were in group conversation, maybe in high spirits, but he got up, walked around the table, went behind me and I suspected something was going to happen.

"I looked back and caught his fist in my open hand. He punched me a second time. I remember a heavy blow to the back on my head. I don't have much recollection as to what happened after that. I then remember seeing my glasses broken in pieces on the floor."

Laura Kuenssberg is the BBC's political editorCredit:
Dominic Lipinski /PA

When asked if he thought Miss Kuenssberg "wasn't attractive enough" to be on television news, Dr King replied: "I do not recall that. All I remember saying was she had a lopsided smile.

"I do not recall saying she would look better with a bag over her face. I did not say her opinions count less because of her looks."

Witness Dr Michael Scarland told the tribunal: "We were all drinking beer and we had around seven pints each before the bar where the incident happened. People were quite drunk and Dr King was drinking the same as everyone else.

"Heated debates were happening around the group. We had a long debate about Brexit and this led to a conversation about Laura Kuenssberg. Someone said she was quite pretty and I mentioned that I didn't agree. Lawrence said she would look better with a bag over her head, which annoyed David.

"I thought Lawrence was going to back track when he said 'you can't put a bag over her head' - but he then said: 'you could cut a couple of holes in the bag so she could see'. They were disrespectful comments. David had gone round to him and said he was out of order. That was the first time they had had an altercation."

Prof Wendy Reid, Health Education England's director of education who spoke to Dr Wilkinson on his return to the UK, told the hearing: "He told me that alcohol was involved in his actions and he told me how distressed and mortified he was about it all. He had an argument with Dr King as he thought he was making comments about this daughter.

"He was constantly reiterating how upset and disappointed he was. He has been receiving coaching into reflecting on this incident.

"I'd rather he hadn't done it but I think he has reflected and think some of his reflection has really helped to tell what happened. I have no concerns with him dealing with criticism at his work. He understands what affect this has had on his work."